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Vital Game Narrative: A Conversation With Rhianna Pratchett

The Overlord series is notable for its
humorous approach. There's not a lot of (intentional) humor in games. What do
you see as the barrier?

RP: I
think the barrier comes about from not realizing that for humor in games to
work well it needs to have a multilayered approach. For example, in Overlord the core gameplay and level
design are inherently twisted and fun. I mean, you're an evil overlord with an
army of sycophantic minions that rampage around the countryside, looting and
pillaging at your command. What's not to love about that?

Plus
you're also seeing the world from the baddy's point of view, which isn't one
represented that often, making it inherently attractive. Look at how well
something like Dexter has done (okay
so he's sort of a bad guy and sort of isn't.) On top of that, we've always tried to make
sure that the script and the gameplay are tightly woven and we use great voice
actors who really "get" the spirit of the titles.

That's
not to say being funny in the game-space (or in any space) is easy. Especially
given that as a writer you don't really have complete control over the usual
comedy tools, such as timing and context. Therefore you have to spend a lot of
time working in-depth with designers at a micro-level to be able to compensate
for that. It's quite an undertaking.

The
games that I've personally found funny have all got this multilayered approach
at heart. Particularly titles like Psychonauts,
Destroy All Humans and Tales of Monkey Island (all the MonkeyIslandgames, in fact.)

Certainly, working on the Overlord titles has made me realize how much gamers appreciate
playing a game that makes them smile or laugh. Be it through a funny animation,
or a line or a piece of gameplay. I don't want to get all Patch Adams about
this, but comedy in general is often undervalued, yet it can be extremely
powerful.

Overlord

The genre question: do different genres of
game, in your opinion, lend themselves better to storytelling or is it all in
the approach the designers take?

RP: Considering
that you can tell a story in six words, as Hemingway illustrated with "For
sale: baby shoes, never worn", I firmly believe that most genres can
become powerful storytelling vehicles. Largely it is down to the narrative
sensibilities of the team and how seriously narrative is taken within the
game-space.

Obviously
RPGs and adventure games lend themselves well to traditional and more linear
story telling methods, as do the slightly slower paced action-adventure games.
But it's important to keep in mind that there's no "one size fits all"
here. Not even close to it. The way you tell a story in an FPS needs to be very
different to the way you tell a story in an RTS or a platformer.

I've
come to the conclusion (through trial and error, mainly) that the faster-paced
the action is in the game the more you have to plan the narrative in advance
and properly structure it into the level design. If you don't then it's much
more likely that the pace and delivery of your story will fall completely out
of line with your gameplay.

Unfortunately, it's often these types of games
where the narrative is the last element to be addressed. But the longer it's
left on the back burner, the narrower the options for story delivery become.
Often you can be left with some very linear (and usually very expensive)
options.

What do you think of the necessity of overlap
between design and writing -- i.e. do you feel a tight integration for true
gameplay-based storytelling is required, BioWare approaches it?

RP: Writers
definitely need to be more integrated into the development process, whether
that's working in-house or on a freelance basis. I've always had the best
results when I've worked closely with the designers. I think the industry has
generally accepted that having professional storytellers onboard is a good
thing.

But
working out what to do with them once you've got them is proving to be much
more of an ongoing challenge. There are still a lot of misconceptions about
writing, particularly in regards to how long it takes. I've certainly come
across the underlying assumption that crafting a story should require the
length of time it takes to flap your hands at a keyboard and just write words.
Any words.

I don't
believe that it's essential for writers (particularly if they're freelance) to
be present in a studio all the time in order to produce good results. Technology
has made the world a much smaller place and things like instant messengers,
Skype, SVN, Fogbugz and wikis are a godsend. It's mainly a question of
developing clear and consistent communications and resource sharing channels.

Besides,
most of us need to dive back into our own personal writing burrow and roll around
in muse juice, from time to time.